NEW YORK (AP) — A sell-off for stocks wrapped around the world and hit Wall Street Tuesday, though the losses eased significantly as the day progressed. Oil prices, meanwhile, leaped even higher on worries about the widening war with Iran.
The S&P 500 dropped as much as 2.5% in the morning because of worries that the war may do more sustained damage to the economy than feared. But the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts trimmed its loss and
was down a more modest 0.9% in afternoon trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 377 points, or 0.8%, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% lower. The Dow had been down more than 1,200 points in the morning.
It was just a day ago that U.S. stocks opened the morning with sharp losses, only to recover all of them and end the day with slight gains. But that was with the caveat that oil prices did not jump too high, like above $100 per barrel.
On Tuesday, oil prices rose again and raised more alarms. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, briefly leaped above $84. But that jump lessened through the day, and it was up a more modest 4.4% at $81.17 per barrel in the afternoon. That helped moderate the losses for stocks.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.9% to $74.71.
Oil prices made the jump as Iran struck the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia, part of a widening of targets that also includes areas critical to the world’s oil and natural gas production. Worries are particularly high about the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, a narrow passageway where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes. That makes it crucial for the global flow of crude.
“The Strait of Hormuz is closed,” declared Iranian Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, vowing that any ships that passed through it would be set on fire.
Making things uncertain for markets are rising questions about how long this war may continue.
A major attack by the United States and Israel has already killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but President Donald Trump said late Monday night on his social media network, “Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully” with the supply of munitions that the United States possesses.
Some professional investors said again Tuesday that this doesn't look like the beginning of a long-term down market and that stocks could rebound if the war doesn't last that long, though they acknowledge it could take a while for that to become clear.
In the meantime, the jump for oil prices worsens inflation, which still remains high, and put more pressure on U.S. households and businesses by raising bills for gasoline and to ship products. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. jumped 11 cents overnight to about $3.11, according to data from motor club AAA.
That has the damage in stock markets so far centering on companies and countries that use a lot of oil, natural gas and petroleum-based fuels.
In South Korea, a big energy importer, the Kospi stock index plunged 7.2% for its worst day since two summers ago as markets reopened after a holiday on Monday. It had been setting records recently.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.1%, even as analysts say Japan has a sizable stockpile lasting more than 200 days. In Europe, where prices for natural gas have soared because of the war, France's CAC 40 lost 3.5%.
On Wall Street, more than two out of every three stocks within the S&P 500 dropped. Unlike a day before, influential Big Tech stocks weren't able to prop up indexes, and Nvidia fell 1.4%.
Among the winners on Wall Street was Target, which rose 6.5% after the retailer reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with worries about inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose above 4.10% in the morning before pulling back to 4.04%. It was at 4.05% late Monday and just 3.97% on Friday.
Higher yields can make it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money, affecting everything from mortgages to bond issuances. They also put downward pressure on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.
When Treasurys are paying more in interest, they can also undercut the price of gold, which pays its investors nothing. Gold fell 3.5% Tuesday to settle at $5,123.70 per ounce, halting a strong run that had taken it above $5,300 as investors looked for safer places to park their money.
High inflation could also tie the Federal Reserve’s hands and keep it from cutting interest rates. The Fed lowered rates several times last year and indicated more cuts were to come in 2026. That would help boost the economy and job market, but lower rates can also worsen inflation.
Traders are now pushing back their forecasts further into the summer for when the Fed could resume cutting rates, according to data from CME Group. That's even though Trump has been calling for Fed officials in angry and personal terms to cut rates now.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
